SOUTH E and W FLORIDA-Post weather conditions here!!

[westmoon]

Sofar it's just cloudy up in Spring Hill

[Colossus]

Just ended a teleconference call with the Emergency Operations Center, no changes. The assumption is that by this evening all aspects should taper off. No actions are being taken. A few areas were alerted that if they tend to suffer from localized flooding that there may be a request or two for sand bags, but until such an event manifests itself, no advertising or offering will be made to the public.

Looks like a summer thunderstorm kind of a day...

[MiamiensisWx]

Good morning to all here! Just checking back in now.

I had some intense bands of varying intensity come through fairly quickly earlier this morning from around 1:30AM to 7:00AM, with heavy gusts later into the early morning. After 7AM, the heavier bands temporarily weakened, likely due to mid-level drier air intrusion; however, while the drizzly rain slacked off, we received just as high, if not higher, sustained winds and gusts than earlier. In between, the winds calmed down a bit, but have picked up since 8:30AM and heavier bands are moving back in with intermittent periods of brief heavier rains, winds, and drizzle. Very windy outside currently in general and consistent, with lulls in between some of the bands. The wind is just really calming down now after a band just moved through briefly, bringing intense gusts up to around 30MPH, based on my estimates.

There are many scattered leaves down and blowing around, but overall branch damage and landscape damage is minimal and more isolated in the local area. There has, overall, also been little to no rainfall so far, except for brief heavier periods. Mainly light rain has been the norm.

[gatorcane]

yep ironically conditions are getting worse by the minute.....even though Ernesto is on land

[dolebot_Broward_NW]

Currently just west of the airport. I drove from Pine Island/Atlantic here via Commercial and the Turnpike. Windy, spotty drizzly fast moving showers - Enough to make me concentrate a little more on keeping the car straight.

In Tamarac we only had a half hour period of heavy rain and estimated 30mph winds at about 9:30-10pm

[Eyewall]

i just went down to the beach
and the winds were a steady 35
little bits of rain, but mostly dry
(pompano beach FL)

[Cuber]

Winds picking up here ... probably because I've just finished taking down my shutters. Had a couple of bands of rain roll through during the night and earlier this morning. Guess Ernie is enjoying those Cuban cigars and the moonshine he found in the stills hidden in the Everglades. Radar seems to show his circulation getting better as he enjoys the warm swamp water and picks up and drags in the warm waters of the GOM and the Gulfstream. He probably has spied the warm lake O waters too and looking forward to spitting out some of the silt he's picked up in the swamp

http://www.sfwmd.gov/org/omd/ops/weather/radamx.html

[jinftl]

From NWS Miami:

NOW...
THROUGH 1045 AM...RAIN BANDS ASSOCIATED WITH TROPICAL STORM ERNESTO
WILL CONTINUE ACROSS EASTERN PORTIONS OF PALM BEACH...BROWARD AND
MIAMI-DADE COUNTIES INCLUDING THE COASTAL ATLANTIC WATERS. THESE
BANDS WILL PRODUCE OCCASIONAL HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND MAY CONTAIN A
FEW THUNDERSTORMS. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF A QUARTER TO A HALF INCH
ARE POSSIBLE WITH LOCALIZED HIGHER AMOUNTS. WIND GUSTS OF 40 TO 50
MPH HAVE BEEN REPORTED THIS MORNING...AND THESE GUSTS MAY OCCUR AT
ANY TIME EVEN IF IT IS NOT RAINING.

[Colossus]

Grey, overcast, a few scattered wind gusts and the infrequent rain bands coming through...I'm having to turn the anticipation volume down...got all worked up ready to respond to something, and (thankfully) get a nice rainy day instead...

[Sanibel]

Dark overcast, light rain in gusty breezes.

[Colossus]

I'm seeing on the State of Florida EOC Tracker system where the Dade County EOC is requesting to deactivate and shut down their response by noon today...

[Zackiedawg]

Overnight...standard rain bands, not much different than a good rainy night. Rain gauge this morning at 8am said .75 inch last night. This morning, mostly dry, with light drizzle. Winds 15-20mph.

Drove to work at 8:30am...no traffic, roads empty, no branches down, no standing water on 20 mile drive from Boca Raton to Coral Springs. Did 95 on Sawgrass with 4 others on the whole road. No tolls.

Since at work...no rain. Dry. Slightly windy. Grey and overcast.

Thunderstorm last Wednesday was much worse. I am glad we dodged anything serious. But a bit dismayed that this was so drastically overhyped. The need to warn people is valid...but at the point where this was fairly well known to not have any hurricane potential, the panic mode on media could have been retracted. Two more panics like this on minor storms, and the media will create a cry-wolf mentality again in South Florida...so the next time a serious threat moves in, people will ignore the media fireworks...and many may be hurt or killed. Oh well. I base my reactions on the facts, not the hype.

I'm very happy this ended up being a non-threatening event. Hopefully our luck will stay the same all season.

[Colossus]

Overnight...standard rain bands, not much different than a good rainy night. Rain gauge this morning at 8am said .75 inch last night. This morning, mostly dry, with light drizzle. Winds 15-20mph.

Drove to work at 8:30am...no traffic, roads empty, no branches down, no standing water on 20 mile drive from Boca Raton to Coral Springs. Did 95 on Sawgrass with 4 others on the whole road. No tolls.

Since at work...no rain. Dry. Slightly windy. Grey and overcast.

Thunderstorm last Wednesday was much worse. I am glad we dodged anything serious. But a bit dismayed that this was so drastically overhyped. The need to warn people is valid...but at the point where this was fairly well known to not have any hurricane potential, the panic mode on media could have been retracted. Two more panics like this on minor storms, and the media will create a cry-wolf mentality again in South Florida...so the next time a serious threat moves in, people will ignore the media fireworks...and many may be hurt or killed. Oh well. I base my reactions on the facts, not the hype.

I'm very happy this ended up being a non-threatening event. Hopefully our luck will stay the same all season.

I can tell you that from a municipal responder standpoint, they were all very concerned about this. They did not want to go public with any warnings or threat considerations and then have nothing at all happen for fear of that very "cry-wolf" item you mentioned. On last nights 6:00 pm EOC check in, the thought process was that if the storm shifted west as much as 20 miles, they would all have to hit the panic button in order to get any local action taken. And the result of that would have been being crucified in the press for "not paying attention" to what was going on. I can tell you, it was frustrating to sit and wait and then make the most prudent choice of action (which in this case, was no-action)...kind of damned if you do, and damned if you don't...

[Zackiedawg]

I can tell you that from a municipal responder standpoint, they were all very concerned about this. They did not want to go public with any warnings or threat considerations and then have nothing at all happen for fear of that very "cry-wolf" item you mentioned. On last nights 6:00 pm EOC check in, the thought process was that if the storm shifted west as much as 20 miles, they would all have to hit the panic button in order to get any local action taken. And the result of that would have been being crucified in the press for "not paying attention" to what was going on. I can tell you, it was frustrating to sit and wait and then make the most prudent choice of action (which in this case, was no-action)...kind of damned if you do, and damned if you don't...

I can fully understand. actually, my problem isn't with the EOC folks or the NHC. They have to read the incoming data, make predictions, and send out appropriate cautions and warnings. And they retract their warnings appropriately. My problem is with the media, who just doesn't let something go if they think they can make a story out of it.

Last night at 11pm, I watched the local WPTV Channel 5 (NBC) news out of Pam Beach. Here's how it went:

BOM BOM BOM BOM (drums) dun dun dun! (keyboards), whoosh slam crash bang! (swirly graphic noise) Tropical Storm ERNESTO (big bold letters and graphics with dramatic sound effects)

Newslady: "And now, NHC director Max Mayfield. Mr. Mayfield, what's the latest on this storm?"

Mayfield (I'll shorten and paraphrase): "This will fortunately be a nonevent. It really broke up. Palm Beach county will not even get the wind effect from this storm. Rainfall totals should be much lower than initially feared."

Newslady:"Yes, but it's not over til it's over, right?"

Mayfield: 'aah...yeah."

Newslady: "Thank you, Mr. Mayfield. Now, let's look at the tropical storm winds in Palm Beach county and the damage they can cause here". (Did she not hear the part about the winds not affecting PB county?).

Later, they had newspeople with waterproof mikes, wrapped in raincoats, standing dramatically in front of canals, the ocean, a mall, and a Home Depot (it wasn't raining in any of the 4 locations, nor was a breeze blowing). They interviewed people in Home Depot who were, in their words, "rushing for last minute preparations before the storm strikes"...and asking people if they were scared, and how secure their houses were.

I will never fault the EOC, NOAA, or NHC people for trying their hardest to stay on top of these storms, issue warnings when appropriate, and try to save lives. And I am always more than happy to find out I prepared for something bad and dodged a bullet - you'll never hear me complain that I had to drain some bathtubs, or deal with an extra supply of water I bought before a potential deadly storm...I'll take that every time over actually getting hit with the storm and needing those supplies!

But I absolutely despise media, and their desire to create a story and ratings out of something small, the fact that they cannot and will not admit when they are wrong, or lower their intensity when the threat reduces, and the complete disregard for the damage they are doing for future severe storms by desensitizing people with hype and panic for small nonevents, making people tune out and ignore the doom and gloom warnings when they really are needed.

[Colossus]

I can tell you that from a municipal responder standpoint, they were all very concerned about this. They did not want to go public with any warnings or threat considerations and then have nothing at all happen for fear of that very "cry-wolf" item you mentioned. On last nights 6:00 pm EOC check in, the thought process was that if the storm shifted west as much as 20 miles, they would all have to hit the panic button in order to get any local action taken. And the result of that would have been being crucified in the press for "not paying attention" to what was going on. I can tell you, it was frustrating to sit and wait and then make the most prudent choice of action (which in this case, was no-action)...kind of damned if you do, and damned if you don't...

I can fully understand. actually, my problem isn't with the EOC folks or the NHC. They have to read the incoming data, make predictions, and send out appropriate cautions and warnings. And they retract their warnings appropriately. My problem is with the media, who just doesn't let something go if they think they can make a story out of it.

Last night at 11pm, I watched the local WPTV Channel 5 (NBC) news out of Pam Beach. Here's how it went:

BOM BOM BOM BOM (drums) dun dun dun! (keyboards), whoosh slam crash bang! (swirly graphic noise) Tropical Storm ERNESTO (big bold letters and graphics with dramatic sound effects)

Newslady: "And now, NHC director Max Mayfield. Mr. Mayfield, what's the latest on this storm?"

Mayfield (I'll shorten and paraphrase): "This will fortunately be a nonevent. It really broke up. Palm Beach county will not even get the wind effect from this storm. Rainfall totals should be much lower than initially feared."

Newslady:"Yes, but it's not over til it's over, right?"

Mayfield: 'aah...yeah."

Newslady: "Thank you, Mr. Mayfield. Now, let's look at the tropical storm winds in Palm Beach county and the damage they can cause here". (Did she not hear the part about the winds not affecting PB county?).

Later, they had newspeople with waterproof mikes, wrapped in raincoats, standing dramatically in front of canals, the ocean, a mall, and a Home Depot (it wasn't raining in any of the 4 locations, nor was a breeze blowing). They interviewed people in Home Depot who were, in their words, "rushing for last minute preparations before the storm strikes"...and asking people if they were scared, and how secure their houses were.

I will never fault the EOC, NOAA, or NHC people for trying their hardest to stay on top of these storms, issue warnings when appropriate, and try to save lives. And I am always more than happy to find out I prepared for something bad and dodged a bullet - you'll never hear me complain that I had to drain some bathtubs, or deal with an extra supply of water I bought before a potential deadly storm...I'll take that every time over actually getting hit with the storm and needing those supplies!

But I absolutely despise media, and their desire to create a story and ratings out of something small, the fact that they cannot and will not admit when they are wrong, or lower their intensity when the threat reduces, and the complete disregard for the damage they are doing for future severe storms by desensitizing people with hype and panic for small nonevents, making people tune out and ignore the doom and gloom warnings when they really are needed.

That is the old, "if it bleeds, it leads" concept. They are just chomping at the bit looking for a reason to point a camera at it and play it up like the end of the world. I hate it when they do that stuff. I had one news reporter once stick the mic in my face and set up this screaminly damning question at me (anticipating like I was going to run from him)...I gave him a direct and to the point answer and all he could say was "oh"...when he kept trying to make more out of it, I just asked him the question back, "what are you basing that assumption on? The facts do not bear that out"....needless to say, despite the fact that he interviewed me for 20 minutes, none of it went on the air since it didn't lend itself to the death and destruction theme that he was pushing...

[wzrgirl1]

highest gust we got was 42 mph so far about 2 hours ago....but it's been holding steady at about 24 mph no big deal....good excuse to stay home in bed all day

[Decomdoug]

In Port St. Lucie it is not raining right now, cloudy, 84, Humidity 93%, Barometer 29.77, Wind 11 MPH from the ESE. Gust to 32. So far we have had 1.4" of rain since midnight.

[chris_fit]

It's a joke here in melbourne. Cloudy, warm, and calm

[Noah]

Cloudy, wind 6mph. I dont see any rain but a small mist.

Still a good day to stay in bed.

[JonathanBelles]

drizzle since 8 am and a little wind.